Third Edition. 4to in 8ís. ff. [8], 168. Including decorative initials and 84 woodcut illustrations with the text. Title within woodcut border depicting a variety of metallurgical and mining equipment. Final leaf (recto) contains a printerís device and colophon - "In Vinegia per Comin da Trino di Monferrato MDLIX" [1559]. Attractive copy. Pages are generally clean and fresh with occasional mild spotting / staining. An old bookplate from the "Royal Military College" is located on the inside front cover. The bookplate is stamped "Sold by H.M Stationery Office." Bound in original limp vellum (minus thong fore-edge ties). Minus binderís blank fly-leaf in the rear. Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480-1539?) was a Siennese nobleman, engineer and metallurgist. His "Pirotechnia" (first published in Venice, 1540) is considered the earliest detailed hand-book on metallurgy. The work contains the first accounts of silver amalgamation, the use of sodium chloride for separating gold and silver from baser metals, the first description of cobalt blue and manganese, and the earliest account of metallic antimony [See Neville Library and Singer, Hist. of Technology III, p. 30] Other sections discuss mining, smelting, alchemy, the reverbartory furnace, the process of glassmaking, the distilling of acids, the production of gunpowder, the making of chemicals used in warfare, the founding of cannon etc. The "Pirotechnica" also contains the first known account of type casting for printing. The description is given in considerable detail [See DSB II, pp. 142-43]. [Edit 16 CNCE 6158; Adams B-2083; Honeyman Sale Cat. 336. Also - Duveen, pp. 79-80; Dibner, p.38; Neville Library I, p.156, Stillwell 827; Mortimer Italian 66 Ė describing first edition]. Bookseller Inventory # 000284

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